Terms of Use

The following rules govern the use by you of PBS ONLINE®. The rules set forth herein apply to all materials, online communications and other information that is or becomes available on PBS ONLINE® (collectively, "Information"). BY SIGNING ON AND USING PBS ONLINE®, YOU SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO ABIDE BY THESE RULES AND ANY MODIFICATIONS THERETO.

1. Personal Uses Permitted.
PBS ONLINE® is an online information exchange service for use by PBS, its Member Stations and the general public. You shall not post, publish, transmit, reproduce, distribute or in any way use or exploit any Information for commercial purposes or otherwise use the Information in a manner that is inconsistent with these rules and regulations.

2. User's Obligation to Abide By Applicable Law.
In connection with the use of PBS ONLINE®, you shall abide by all applicable federal, state or local laws, including those pertaining to such areas as libel, slander, defamation, trade libel, product disparagement, harassment, invasion of privacy, tort, obscenity, indecency, and copyright or trademark infringement ("Applicable Law"). The Information available on PBS ONLINE® may include intellectual property that is protected under the copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws of the United States and/or other countries ("Intellectual Property Laws"). Such Intellectual Property Laws generally prohibit the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of all text, photographic and graphic (art and electronic) images, music, sound samplings and other protected materials. The violation of applicable Intellectual Property Laws may give rise to civil and/or criminal penalties.

3. Disclosure of Online Communications.
You are cautioned that any online communications may not be fully confidential. In addition, you should be aware that federal postal regulations do not protect electronic mail. You should be aware that some administrative personnel of PBS may, in the course of their regular duties, have access to communications for technical or operational purposes. PBS may also disclose any communications to the extent permitted or required by law.

4. Prohibition Against Rogue Programming.
You shall not post, transmit or make available in any way through PBS ONLINE® any software or other materials which contain a computer virus, trojan horse, timebomb, worm or other rogue programming ("Rogue Programming"). PBS has no obligation to detect the presence of any Rogue Programming. Any downloading of software or other materials or any other use of the Information on PBS ONLINE® is at your risk, and you are advised to take adequate precautions to minimize any loss to your system caused by Rogue Programming, including use of anti-virus programs and proper backup of files.

5. Content of Information.
You are responsible for the content of any Information you put on PBS ONLINE®. The Information posted to PBS Online® does not necessarily reflect the views of PBS and in no event shall PBS assume or have any responsibility or liability for any information posted to PBS Online® or for any claims, damages or losses resulting from the use and/or appearance of such information on PBS Online®. PBS has no obligation to, and does not in the normal course, monitor or control any Information that is or becomes available on PBS ONLINE®. PBS reserves the right to review any Information that is or becomes available on PBS ONLINE®. PBS reserves the right to refuse to post or to edit or remove, in whole or in part, any Information that is, in PBS's sole discretion, unacceptable, undesirable or in violation of these rules. PBS has no obligation to exercise such reservation of rights by PBS; however, PBS has adopted and implemented a policy respecting the copyright law that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of users of the PBS ONLINE® system or network who are repeat infringers. PBS may terminate access for content providers or forum participants who are found repeatedly to provide or post protected material without necessary rights and permissions. By submitting information to PBS, you grant PBS a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, transmit, copy and display such information in any and all media now know or hereinafter devised and represent that you have all necessary rights in such posting. While PBS strives to provide users with the highest-quality related resources on all of its sites, we cannot and do not ensure the quality or accuracy of the non-pbs.org content to which we link.

6. Copyright Agent.

Agent Contact Information and Policy on Repeat Infringers

This page is designed to facilitate submissions about content providers or forum participants who provide or post copyright protected material without necessary rights and permissions.

If you are interested in obtaining rights to use PBS Online materials, please click here.

Name of Agent Designated to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement:
Katherine Lauderdale, Senior Vice President & General Counsel

Address of Designated Agent to which Notification should be Sent:
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Office of the General Counsel
2100 Crystal Drive
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3785

Telephone Number of Designated Agent:
(703) 739-5000

Facsimile Number of Designated Agent:
(703) 837-3300

Use the form at the bottom of this page to contact the Designated Agent
(IMPORTANT: This email address is intended specifically for the receipt of "Notifications of Claimed Infringement" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, 17 U.S.C. 512. It is not intended for the general inquiries and permission requests concerning the use of PBS programs or materials.)

Policy on Repeat Infringers, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 512(i):
PBS has adopted and implemented a policy respecting the copyright law that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of users of the PBS online system or network who are repeat infringers. PBS may terminate access for content providers or forum participants who are found repeatedly to provide or post protected material without necessary rights and permissions.

Elements of Notification
If you are a copyright owner or agent thereof and believe that any content infringes upon your copyright, then you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by providing our agent with the following information in writing:

(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

(ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.

(iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.

(iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.

(v) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

(vi) A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Elements of Counter-Notification
If you believe that your content that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the content, then you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to our agent:

(i) A physical or electronic signature.

(ii) Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.

(iii) A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.

(iv) Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

If a counter-notice is received, PBS may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed content or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider, member, or user, the removed content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at PBS’s sole discretion.

7. Podcasts.
The MP3 audio files and XML files that together comprise a PBS-hosted podcast (herein referred to as the "podcast") are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. All rights to podcast(s) originating from the producer, including the content and technology included therein, are reserved to the producer. PBS-hosted podcast(s) are available for personal, noncommercial use only. You may link to PBS podcast(s) from your personal Web site and audio files may be downloaded and played on any system for personal, noncommercial purposes, provided that, unless permission to do so is expressly stated:

(a) you do not modify or delete any of the podcast content nor individual audio files;
(b) you do not redistribute the MP3 audio files made available as part of the podcast nor any audio file downloaded from PBS.org;
(c) the use or display does not suggest that PBS, local PBS member stations nor the producer of the podcast(s) promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, Web sites, products or services;
(d) audio files made available for download are not to be re-produced, edited, re-transmitted, or in any way repurposed without prior consent from the producer and PBS.

Producers and PBS reserve the right to discontinue providing podcast(s) and to require that you cease accessing or using the podcast(s) or any elements of the podcast at any time for any reason.

The podcast producer and/or PBS may modify any of the terms and conditions contained herein, at any time and at our sole discretion, and such terms and conditions will become binding when placed online.

Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, tort, contract, strict liability, or otherwise, shall the podcast producer, PBS, nor any local PBS station be liable to you or any other person for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character including, without limitation, damages for lost profits, loss of goodwill, work stoppage, accuracy of services, content or results, computer failure or malfunction, damages resulting from disabling of the services provided as part of the podcast(s).

8. Disclaimer of Warranties.
PBS ONLINE® IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER PBS NOR THE MEMBER STATIONS WARRANT THAT ANY INFORMATION IS COMPLETE OR ACCURATE, THAT PBS ONLINE® WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT ANY INFORMATION IS FREE OF ROGUE PROGRAMMING.

9. Limitation of Damages.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL PBS OR THE MEMBER STATIONS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE PBS ONLINE®, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION USE OF OR RELIANCE ON INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON PBS ONLINE®, INTERRUPTIONS, ERRORS, DEFECTS, MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, DELETIONS OF FILES, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, NONDELIVERY OF INFORMATION, DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICATIONS, OR ANY OTHER FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE.

10. Release and Indemnity.
YOU HEREBY RELEASE AND WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND/OR LIABILITY AGAINST PBS AND/OR THE MEMBER STATIONS ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF PBS ONLINE®. YOU ALSO AGREE TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS, PBS AND THE MEMBER STATIONS, FROM AND AGAINST, ANY AND ALL CLAIMS OR LIABILITY, INCLUDING COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES, ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF PBS ONLINE® OR FAILURE TO ABIDE BY APPLICABLE LAW.

11. Modifications.
These rules may be modified by PBS from time to time and such modifications will be binding on you when placed online.

12. Terms and Conditions for Use of shopPBS.
Please read the Terms and Conditions for Use of shopPBS Agreement carefully before accessing the Service. By accessing the Service, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions below.